Illegal aliens do sometimes improperly secure American taxpayer-funded welfare benefits, United States Census Bureau data makes clear.
As the federal government shutdown continues, the establishment media and elected Democrats are routinely claiming that illegal aliens cannot secure taxpayer-funded welfare.
“[House Speaker Mike Johnson] also falsely claimed that Democrats want to give healthcare, extend healthcare to illegal immigrants. That is not true. Illegal immigrants are not eligible for federal healthcare programs,” a CNN anchor said on Thursday.
That media talking point echoes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “Federal law prohibits the use of Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act to provide health insurance in any way, shape, or form to undocumented immigrants. Period. Full stop. That’s the law,” Jeffries told ABC News.
The claim is being made to counter Republicans, who affirm that Democrats have allowed the government to shut down because they want to repeal reforms that seek to prevent illegal aliens from gaining access to taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits.
Analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) tells a much different story — one in which, despite best efforts from the Trump administration, illegal aliens do sometimes secure welfare benefits.
CIS researchers reviewed SIPP data regarding illegal immigrant-headed households that use welfare programs, but more specifically, the exact applicants for such welfare, finding that illegal aliens themselves sometimes secure cash benefits, food stamps, Medicaid, and housing vouchers.
Center for Immigration Studies
“While 59 percent of households headed by an illegal immigrant receive welfare, just 20 percent of illegal immigrant heads personally receive welfare themselves,” CIS’s Jason Richwine wrote in March.
“Other members of their households, who are usually legal residents, make up the difference,” Richwine continues. “The head-household distinction is especially noticeable with Medicaid, as just 1 percent of illegal household heads receive Medicaid — typically in emergency situations — but receipt by other household members pushes the rate all the way up to 39 percent.”
As Richwine details, illegal aliens most often secure welfare benefits by having their U.S.-citizen children or relatives — with whom they reside — apply for the benefits.
A memo from the White House, issued this week, estimates that Democrats’ demands to reopen the government would ensure almost $200 billion in taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits for illegal aliens.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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